From '' After Midnight ''
Label: Hansa International -- 26 127 OT
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Germany
Released: Apr 1978
Tracklist
A1 After Midnight
Written-By -- J.J. Cale
A2 Standing In The Shadow Of Love
Written-By -- Holland & Dozier
B1 Living A Lie
Written-By -- Gyllianna, Karin van Haaren, Tony Hendrik
B2 Mexican Taxi Man
Written-By -- Hubert Valverde, Karin van Haaren, Philip Valverde, Stefan Klinkhammer, Tony Hendrik
B3 Layla
Written-By -- Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon
Arranged By -- Stefan Klinkhammer
Producer -- Tony Hendrik
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\"Layla\" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues-rock band, Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (December 1970).
It is considered one of rock music's definitive love songs, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, and a piano coda that comprises the second half of the song. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.
Inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison, \"Layla\" was unsuccessful on its initial release.
The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim, and is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time.
Two versions have achieved chart success, the first in 1972 and the second twenty years later as an acoustic \"Unplugged\" performance.
In 2004 it was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone's list of \"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time\", and the acoustic version won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.
Background
In 1966 George Harrison married Pattie Boyd, a model he met during the filming of A Hard Day's Night.
During the late 1960s, Clapton and Harrison became close friends.
Clapton contributed uncredited guitar work on Harrison's song \"While My Guitar Gently Weeps\" on The Beatles' White Album, and Harrison co-wrote and played guitar pseudonymously (as L'Angelo Misterioso) on Cream's \"Badge\" from Goodbye.
However, trouble was brewing for Clapton.
Between his tenures in Cream and Blind Faith, in his words, \"something else quite unexpected was happening: I was falling in love with Pattie.\"
The title, \"Layla\", was inspired by The Story of Layla / Layla and Majnun (ليلى و مجنون), by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi of the Ganja (present day Azerbaijan) Seljuq empire.
It is based on the true story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح) from the northern Arabian Peninsula, in the Umayyad Caliphate during the 7th century.
When he wrote \"Layla\", Clapton had been told the story by his friend Ian Dallas, who was in the process of converting to Islam. Nizami's tale, about a moon princess who was married off by her father to someone other than the one who was desperately in love with her, resulting in Majnun's madness (A name, مجنون, which translates to \"madman\" in Arabic), struck a deep chord with Clapton.
According to Boyd, Clapton played the song for her at a party, and later that same evening confessed to George that he was in love with his wife.
The revelation caused no small upset among the three of them, but Pattie and George remained married for several more years, and Harrison and Clapton retained their close friendship with no apparent signs of damage.
Boyd divorced Harrison in 1974 and married Clapton in 1979 during a concert stop in Tucson, Arizona.
Harrison was not bitter about the divorce, and attended Clapton's wedding party with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
During their relationship, Clapton wrote another love ballad for Pattie called \"Wonderful Tonight\" (1977).
Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 after several years of separation.
Legacy
The song was chosen by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of their \"500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll\", and Rolling Stone ranked the song at #27 on their list of \"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time\".
\"Layla\" was ranked #16 on VH1's \"100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll\", while Clapton's and Allman's guitar solos earned \"Layla\" a spot on Guitar World's list of the \"100 Greatest Guitar Solos\" at #14.
The song's familiar guitar riff was featured on a series of British TV adverts for Vauxhall (OPEL) cars, while the extended piano coda was featured prominently in Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas.
Covers have been fairly rare, including:
John Fahey's cover on his 1984 album Let Go,
a cover by session musician and smooth jazz guitarist Larry Carlton,
a cover by Les Fradkin on his \"Hyper MIDI Guitar\" album in 2010,
and a cover by Impulsia from their debut album Expressions in 2009.
Part of the song was included in a remix by American shred guitarist Michael Angelo Batio called \"Clapton Is God\" in his 2009 album Hands Without Shadows 2 -- Voices.
